The Battle of Rande

The treasures of the Vigo estuary

The Battle of Rande is one of the naval landmarks of our history, as well as the most important legend of the Vigo estuary. The battle was fought on the 23rd of October, 1702 between the Anglo-Dutch and French-Spanish fleets, during the War of the Spanish Succession. Spanish galleons reached the Vigo estuary laden with the greatest treasure that ever crossed the Atlantic: gold, silver and jewels... And this is where the legend diverges: one side of the story ensures that the galleons took refuge in Vigo, where they were attacked with the load still aboard, the other states that the treasure had already been unloaded... although no one knew where it was taken.

The truth is that Jules Verne turned Captain Nemo into the first treasure hunter of the Vigo estuary in his novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Since then, there have been hundreds of expeditions in the waters of the Vigo estuary in search of the treasure. For example, in 2011 six more shipwrecks from the battle were located and identified.